Monthly Archives: July 2013

Last weekend Delia sat on the Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon Symposium panel entitled, “The Venerable, the Relatively New & the New,” held at the fabulous Central Coast Wine Classic held in San Luis Obispo. Her panel was held at the magnificent Avila Beach Golf Resort and other members of the panel included her colleagues from Opus One and Spottswoode.

The event is always a pleasure for Delia as it attracts many wine connoisseurs from the area and many Viader fans. But an added benefit , Delia says is her “ability to taste my colleagues’ wines and listening to their stories.” Often, its fun to realize “how interconnected we are as the ‘old veterans’ of a small community like Napa Valley,” Delia says.

The Central Coast Wine Classic is a four-day celebration of gastronomic indulgences held in San Luis Obispo County. Since 1984, the Classic has welcomed the international community of preeminent vintners, sommeliers, chefs, artists, writers and educators to California’s Central Coast for a weekend of gastronomic celebration. Festivities include the annual soirée at Hearst Castle in San Simeon, symposia, tastings, cooking demonstrations and dinners prepared by celebrity chefs, as well as the Rare & Fine Wine & Lifestyle Auction that benefits local non-profit organizations through the Central Coast Wine Classic Foundation.

Organizers Archie McLaren and Carissa Chappellet, longtime friends of Delia’s, make the event entertaining and it invariably draws a high caliber of the presenters in wine and the culinary arts. This year, Delia had a chance to share stories with her panel attendees about good times past when Viader and Spottswoode shared viticulturist David Abreu and winemaker consultant Tony Soter. She also recalled a memory from back in the 1980’s; a particular Viader auction lot at the annual Napa Valley Wine Auction. It was a map of Napa Valley “drawn on” the body of a beautiful Athena sculpted by a local artist. Baroness Philippine de Rothschild, Delia recalls, perceived the strategic location of Opus One right below the navel while Howell Mountain landing on the right breast with Spring Mountain on the left. The Baroness exclaimed “My dear I knew that the location of Opus One was a good one but I am now realizing that aside from very good it is also (sexy) “hot.” the crowd got a good laugh as they sipped some of the finest wines from Napa Valley.

Delia and her fellow Napa winery owners enjoy connecting at events such as this. Back in Napa Valley, they are more often passing ships in the night. She was ecstatic about pouring her wines to this captive and engaged audience. Being part of such a worthwhile charity is also another bonus.

The Central Coast Wine Classic foundation focuses on specific projects of 501(c)3 non-profit corporations in the San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara counties whose missions are in the Healing, Performing or Studio Arts. Over the past seven years the Foundation has conferred grants totaling $1,615,943 to 76 such non-profits.

Cabernet Franc is one of the grapes Delia planted early on when settling on Napa Valley’s Howell Mountain in 1986. Both the namesake VIADER Proprietary Red Blend (30% Cab Franc in 2009) and the DARE by Viader single varietal (100%) show how the grape’s femininity, elegance and seductiveness shines through when cultivated here in the New World. Delia chose to focus on this particular grape variety because it had always captured her attention. She found Cabernet Franc to be intriguing, pleasant – almost voluptuous – on the palate, and moreover it was not prevalent in Napa Valley in the early 1980’s when she established the winery. Our inaugural release of VIADER back in 1989 had 40% Cab Franc as well. Since the beginning, Delia has been committed to blending and bottling this noble grape to capture its finesse and character which is unlike any other grape variety.

Viader Proprietary Red Blend with Cab and Cab Franc

The grape is one of the five Bordeaux varietals and the dominant red grape of Loire Valley’s Chinon dating back several centuries. By the 18th century, the grape was widely planted in Pomerol and St.-Emillion. And while rarely the dominant player in wines of Bordeaux, it’s a significant component in the wine that inspired Delia’s choice: Cheval Blanc. In fact, the VIADER clone of Cabernet Franc is one of the few in existence that comes from the same St.-Emilion, Bordeaux area.

The Cabernet Franc varietal is mostly added to the VIADER Proprietary Red Blend for its lovely perfume that brings to mind violets, rich raspberries and plums, with a bit of red currant. The tannins show more restraint than those in its close relative Cabernet Sauvignon so the finish is smoother and silkier.

Here on Howell Mountain in sunny Napa Valley we love the expression of Cab Franc in both the small production VIADER and DARE by Viader wines, exploding with ripe dark plums and berries yet finishing smoothly with an elegance all of its own. If you haven’t yet tried our current releases, please come for a tasting soon or visit our website for more information.

Wine, wine and more wine as Delia takes a whirlwine trip around London pouring Viader wines.

Delia had a whirlwind trip to London earlier this month, stopping to pour at a wine dinner at Ransome’s Dock on the first night where she served as the Vintner Lead among the other Napa Valley Vintners, such as Shafer Vineyards. This was the most successful and interesting dinner on the trip, where she was delighted to pour a vertical from the 2002, 2005, and 2008 vintages of VIADER Proprietary Red Blend. Special guest and renowned author Jancis Robinson was so impressed with the presentation of the 2002 she made a beeline for Delia after the dinner for another taste!

The next day, Delia was off to The Jugged Hair for a winemaker lunch hosted by Graham Holter, Publisher & Founder of The Wine Merchant. The crowd very much enjoyed tasting the Viader wines and the food was scrumptious.

And if that weren’t enough hosting and socializing (all while experiencing jet lag), later that evening, Delia poured one more time for the crowds at Theatre of Wine, a small wine retailer owned by Daniel Ilsley in Tufnell Park London. The response by the British community was astounding and the discussions about American vs. French Oak were fascinating. A globetrotter for most of her life, and fluent in six languages, Delia feels right at home in Europe. It was a wildly successful visit.

Please share the post with your wine friends and be sure to pay Viader a visit next time you’re in the area. We’d love to show you around the winery and vineyards.